


Happy Birthday Leo

by WolfsHowl5678



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Corrin remembers his birthday, Gen, Leo is Sad(tm), set during birthright
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-27
Updated: 2017-04-27
Packaged: 2018-10-24 12:55:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10742133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfsHowl5678/pseuds/WolfsHowl5678
Summary: Leo wonders why the only one who ever remembered his birthday was Corrin. He wonders why she remembered when they were at war.





	Happy Birthday Leo

Leo was angry. He had always been the prodigy child, the ruthless tactician and the smartest of the Nohrian royal family. He had always been talked about, people wondering if he might make a bid for the throne one day, or how he was a bastard son, or other things which he wished he had never heard. He worked hard in his studies, feeling like he was caught in his siblings shadows, even more so when Corrin arrived.

 

Corrin, the strange new daughter King Garon had one day introduced, and suddenly it was all about her. Xander loved her, more than he was likely to ever admit, and Camilla loved her, a doting older sister who would kill anyone who hurt her, and Elise loved her, her darling older sister whom she always played dress up with. 

 

Leo was jealous. That much he knew. It was a dark green emotion, an internal poison that slowly curled through him, destroying everything it touched. He worked harder at his studies, took up magic and became well known for it, learned every military strategy and tactic that had ever existed, and still it was not enough. All he wanted was praise, love from the people that mattered most to him. But it never came, except in short bursts and words and single sentences, which he greedily devoured like a starving man would food. Everything was always about Corrin.

 

Yet, despite that all, he still loved Corrin. Like everyone else, she found a way to weasel into his heart, carving out a small section in his chest that only she had ever been able to do. Maybe it was because she showered him with praise, or noticed, even when she was younger, all his little ticks and what they meant. Maybe it was just because she was just the type of person who could have anyone wrapped around her finger if she wanted.

 

When she choose Hoshido, it hurt. It hurt like hell. He could see it, reflected in the faces of all his other siblings, the absolute agony as she stood with her birth siblings. His long lingering jealousy exploded, her choice a catalyst for his destruction, and he felt consumed by his rage. Everytime he saw her after that, it was insults and rage and shouting and traitor traitor  _ traitor _ .

 

Even though there was a war going on, even through everything that happened, he still felt like a little kid who craved attention, so when his birthday rolled around, and not even one person wished him a happy birthday, not his siblings, not his retainers, not  _ anyone _ , it wasn’t a good setup for a good day. So when, he ran into her again, trying to talk Camilla around to her side, he was cold and vicious and all but ready to tear her apart. 

 

But then the resistance showed up and he would have torn them apart if Camilla hadn’t been injured, would have ripped everything apart right there and then, but he couldn’t, and his rage felt even more violent, a volcano ready to explode. And, when he was about to leave, about to ride off dramatically and seeth until he could finally release his pent up anger, she called out to him.

 

“Leo!” 

 

And despite everything, despite every shred of evidence and every wrathful and envious thought telling him to keep going, to leave her in the dust, he still turned, turned because there was still a part of his heart that belonged to her, a corner of his mind where he still loved her, still saw her as his sister, his poor sister who was forced to make a choice she didn’t want to, and he wanted nothing but to have her back again.

 

He turned, and was surprised as she got a bit closer, digging around in her bag before she found something. She threw it, and he caught it, more on instinct than anything, surprised to find it was a book.

 

A book on Hoshidian fairy tales, because she knew how much he loved a good fairy tale. He held it with surprise, fast flipping through it before looking up at her again, hands twitching on the cover like he couldn’t wait to read it, because he couldn’t because they were new stories and ideas and gods did he love his sister but he hated her.

 

“Happy birthday!” She said to him, calling out across the battlefield. He opened his mouth, then closed it again, unable to think of a response. She remembered. Even in the middle of a war, even being on opposite sides, she  _ remembered _ . Because, he realized belatedly, that was just the kind sort of person she was. 

  
He gave no response, only clutching the book to his chest and wheeling his horse around, disappearing into the forest. The last image of her he held in his mind, of her standing there with a small smile on her face, and tears in her eyes. 


End file.
